Tatatau - 'Urban'

Previously, I tried reasoning with ideas relating to 'Urban-Kupesi' as a concept in light of what it means to me and my work. I want to further this discussion. The idea of reviving a practice once integral to our culture is beset with various difficulties. Such can be understood in different directions and one way of beginning to understand these difficulties is by an announcement of unison in theory. By this, I intend to mean that the randomness with which a difficult task is understood from the outset may be brought to light through an imagined platform upon which this difficulty may be inherited. For me, though I have come to understand that the process of reviving an event like tatatau is beyond a case of returning to a specific point in history; I intend my work to contribute to at least a dimension of that common platform. 'Urban' as a concept inherits both the difficulty/randomness and imagined unison accorded to the desired platform - from which a journey towards re-evaluating the significance of tatatau to our culture may be launched. One issue I wrestle with in thinking about what I am doing in terms of tattooing is meaning. Meanings attached to certain type of tattoos and images vary according to people and their experiences and values. TO me, meaning in light of what I do is a question whose answers varies and are in constant oscillation. Sometimes, I see what I'm doing as re-evaluating, re-interpreting, re-defining and re-inventing aspects of history. A response to one's surroundings in ways sometimes influenced by my clients. Hence, the concept 'urban'. We live in a world influenced by an apparatus or a complex weave of beliefs and isms. Our ideas and principles are constantly shifting as we move from one cultural platform to another. There is a sense that we are constantly confronted with a catalogue of cultures via newspaper, television, movies, music, books, people and etc. 'Urban' to me is this catalogue. Our movement within this catalogue is partly influenced by the things on it and partly on our own. The 'urban' influence us in where we look and how we look at ourselves. Latin (and) American culture(s) have had a major influence in how some of our youths define and continue to redefine themselves. There's a part in our youths conception of where they stand in their world that is highly influenced by cultures beyond them. Youths become vessels of these cultures the same way actors become vessels of the characters they play. In many ways, what I do contribute to this process via tattoos....2b cont..